Its that time of year again … Cross County Season!

My daughter runs cross-country.  She HATES cross-country.  Well, maybe hate is too strong of a word for it.  She is not a fan of cross-country.  But SassyGirlTye, if your daughter isn’t a fan of cross country, why is she on the team? Well, that’s a good question.  While my daughter doesn’t like running cross country, she LOVES running track.  Her track coach is also the cross-country coach.  He told her that he wanted her to run cross country, so my daughter runs cross country. This is her third year on the team, so she knows what to expect.  She knows that practice will involve long distance running.  She knows that there will be days where she will be doing a lot of strength training.  And, she know that there will be days when she is going to be sore.  Knowing all of that, she is a trouper and goes out there and runs.
 
The funny thing is that I run too.  I am currently in training for the New York Marathon.  I’ve ran a few half marathons and a number of races.  However, this will be my first marathon.  So, as I listen to my daughter’s tales of woes and aches and pains, I just laugh.  When she has a race, this girl comes home exhausted!  After one of her races, I reminded her that she only ran 2.5 miles.  That’s a warmup for us!  In all fairness though, when I run, I’m not trying to beat everyone else to the finish line.  I’m just trying to finish.  
 
Sometimes, I ask my daughter if she wants to come out and run with me.  She usually tells me no, but every now and again, she will come out and run.  A few years ago, my daughter decided to run the Turkey Trot with me and a few of my friends.  It was a 5 mile run, on Thanksgiving, in the park.  We had to be there early in the morning. My daughter is not an early morning person.  She’s more of a “I’ll wait until early in the afternoon to roll out of bed” person.  But this day, she got up and ran with us.  On the way to the race, I told her, “Love, our mantra is your race, your pace.  I know you will run faster than me, so you don’t have to wait for me.  You run your pace.  Once you finish, get one of the bagels they give out and wait for me.” My daughter wouldn’t hear it.  We were going to run together, she said.  We were going to be a team, she said.  This was our bonding time together, she said. Well, let me tell you.  The race horn went off, and my daughter was gone. After about 5 minutes, I couldn’t even see her anymore.  Once my daughter started running, she never looked back!  Not once.  I was a slower runner then and I was taking my time.  It wasn’t one of the qualifying races for the marathon, so I really didn’t care when I finished.  As a matter of fact, neither did my friends.  At one point, we all caught up with each other and decided to walk and catch up on things since we hadn’t seen each other in a while.  While we were walking, my phone rang.  It was my daughter.  She had finished running.  I told her that we were on our way.  Eventually, she got impatient and called again.  At that point, we decided that we may as well just run it in.  We also laughed and joked that this would probably be the last time my daughter ran with us.  
 
But it wasn't .  That same year, one of my friends wanted to run the Cherry Tree 10 Miler and Relay.  In that event, you have the choice of either running the full 10 miles as a solo runner, or as a part of a 3  person relay team.  My friend wanted to do it as a relay team, but we needed another runner. Guess who we asked?  Let me put this in perspective for you.  This relay is in February.  Outside.  In the park. New York is cold in February. And, we had to be in the park before my daughter’s noon roll out of bed time.  But, my girl is a trouper!  She surprised me and ran with us. Every now and again, she still comes out and runs with us. In fact, she is running the Turkey Trot with us again this year.  I enjoy running with my daughter.  
 
If you want to have some real bonding time with your child, find something that you both enjoy doing and do it together. You will both have happy memories to reflect on years from now.
 
So, now you know and … You can Consider Yourself Warned!
 
If you have kids, what things do you like to do together?